Sanchez Elementary School
Technology Plan

Needs Assessment

Curriculum Component:

Of central concern to gains in academic achievement at Sanchez Elementary is the use of technology as a catalyst for changing our school in ways that better support the acquisition of higher-order skills by all students. Use of technology can have a particularly significant impact on the schooling of economically disadvantaged students, whose educational experiences frequently have stressed repetitious rote drill on lower-order skills, with relatively little attention to the areas of comprehension, problem solving, composition, and mathematical reasoning that will support both higher education and effective functioning in the real world.

Technology needs to be integrated into all phases of the curriculum. Technology utilized in authentic tasks where students are using them for the same kinds of purposes and in the same ways that adults would use technology outside the school walls will help our students develop critical thinking and cooperative skills. Students should use word processing and desktop publishing facilities in the same way that any practicing professional in a job requiring writing might do so. They should be able to search for information resources on the Internet using the same kinds of resources and for the same kinds of reasons that practicing researchers or an informed individual seeking broad information might. (Newman, 1990)

• Specific population suggestions- Special Education

Teachers and special education teachers need tools in their hands that assess student technology aids faster than the tedious process of diagnostics tests. These toolkits will give their students immediate access to explore a variety of technology devices and applications that will level the playing field for them in the regular classroom education settings.

Special education and regular education teachers need to be aware of, and have access to technology toolkits which will enable them to help their students achieve success in a time effective manner by empowering their special population to maneuver around disabling conditions which hinder their abilities to express their ideas and work to their true potential. Through use of assistive technology devices, whether low tech or high tech the true power of technology will be unleashed for these students.

Reading Language Arts recommendations:

•Increased School wide accountability and goals for Accelerated Reader.
•Required weekly and quarterly reports by homeroom for
increased individual independent reading.

• Monitoring of student selected reading choices as determined by their independent reading level with incremental increases at each quarter in both reading level and weekly point accumulation.

•Integration of Inspiration software for comparing and contrasting of literature and other graphical organizers such as story mapping, character analysis, plot and themes in various genres of writing.

•Increased use of word processing for editing and revising of published works.

Long term learning projects, which are skill and writing intensive such as History Fair and Science Fair.

Math recommendations:

·Adopt the Accelerated Math program to develop essential performance skills and strategies. The program generates assignments tailored to student’s needs, abilities, and learning styles.

·Integrate E-Lab program that contains 160+ activities to augment the math curriculum. Virtual manipulations for numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and data analysis and probability will help students visualize relationships and applications. A Spanish version is included.

·Increase assignments using real-world applications and problem solving. Spreadsheets are designed to manage and manipulate numbers so students can analyze, interpret and problem solve. Students can balance checking accounts, comparing time and space, and using graphs to contrast and contrast. Graphics can be used to create or manipulate objects to make math concepts more concrete.

These recommendations are based on the following analysis of students' TAAS scores:

In Reading, the most fluctuation and obvious areas of need are in special education, and the economically disadvantaged sub populations. Goals for this area will be to increase passing percents from low 70's to 80% or above in all populations, and then increase incrementally each year until exemplary status, 90%, is maintained through the implementation of critical thinking skills utilized in collaborative projects across the content areas, reading assessment software which monitors independent reading, and test prep software which monitors and adapts to individual student needs.

Writing needs include assistive technology devices and software modifications identified in IEP’s for students with special needs. A goal for writing will be to bring the Special Ed. sub category from 25% to 75 %, with increases shown each year through teacher awareness and training in the use of assistive devices, software, and technology tools for their special students.

Math needs include problem solving and real life applications of technology and educational software using math skills integrated into the curriculum to raise scores from high 60's to 80% or above in all sub categories, with incremental increases until exemplary status of 90% is achieved and maintained.

In order to assess the availability of the appropriate technology to meet the individual curriculum needs of teachers and students, we distributed the following surveys:

1.Student-Centered Technology (see graph 1): In your classes, do students use the following computer-aided instruction (CAI)?
Student usage was low in all of the following areas: CAI: drill and practical/tutorial
CAI: simulation/educational games (Sim City, Civilization)
Information Retrieval (SIRS, Periodic Index, Encarta, Library Circulation)
Problem Solving (Math Blaster, Oregon Trail)
Database/Spreadsheet use (Excel, Filemaker Pro, Access)
Student Portfolio Building (Virtual EDucation)
Authoring/Multimedia Development (Hyperstudio, Director)
Desktop Publishing (Yearbook, journalism, newspaper)
Electronic Presentations (Powerpoint, Persuasion)
Video Development
Open Lab Access
Web Page Development (Front Page, Dreamweaver, HomePage, BB Edit)

2. Student-Centered Technology (see graph 2): If the following technologies were available, how would you rate the potential of each to impact instruction or to support instruction?
Results: All high to somewhat high except "Expert Systems for Diagnostics," which was "somewhat low."

The surveys were conducted between January 11, 2003, and March 24, 2003. Review the graphs for results.

Professional Development Component:

All teachers and students at Sanchez Elementary should be proficient in the use of research tools, internet, word processing, spreadsheets, PowerPoint, and digital imaging technologies which they will integrate into their classroom curriculum through creation of authentic tasks.

Between January 11, 2003 and March 24, 2003, surveys were conducted to identify the staff’s current technology skills, integration capabilities, and needs for professional development. The following surveys were used with the following results:

Staff Centered Technology (see graph 3) : Have you used computer technology for the following, for your job?
Teachers were not using technology for the following areas: Student Information (Student records, discipline, health systems)
School Management (Budget, personnel, scheduling/calendar)
Desktop Publishing (Pagemaker, QuarkXpress, Print Shop Deluxe)
Authoring or Multimedia (Hyperstudio, Director)
Information Retrieval (Infotrac, SIRS, Library Circulation, etc.)
Audio/Video Capture or Digitizing (Premiere, Videoshop)
Art/Graphic Development (Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, Canvas)
Computerized Testing (Microtest)
Web Page Development (FrontPage, Dreamweaver, BB Edit, HomePage)
Analysis: Teachers are not utilizing technology that would make their jobs easier.

Staff Development Activities (see graph 4): Identify the quantity of training you feel you need in each of the following areas.
Some training was deemed necessary in the following areas: TV/Audio/Video; Word Processing; Database/ Spreadsheet; Authoring/ Multimedia Development; Networking/ Network Management; School Management; Student Management; Desktop Publishing; Basic Operating System Techniques; CD-ROM/ Multimedia Applications; and Electronic Research
Areas that indicated "Lots"- Advanced Input/ Output Devices; Telecommunications; Portfolio Development; Interactive Video; Curriculum Specific Applications; and HTML/ Web Page Development
Overall Analysis: Teachers do not feel comfortable with present software/hardware and feel that they need more training.

Your Technology Background(see graph 5): Have you used the following technologies?
Analysis: Teachers are not familiar with other technologies like Linus, Unix, Amiga, DOS, video-editing equipment/camcorder, or utilizing networks for file and print sharing.

Staff Development Activities (see graph 6): Identify the quantity of training you have received in each of the following areas.
Teachers have had some training in the following areas: Advanced Input/ Output Devices; Telecommunications; TV/Audio/Video; Authoring/Multimedia Development; Networking/ Network Management; School Management; Student Management(Grading, Attendance, Student Records); Desktop Publishing; Curriculum Specific Applications; Basic Operating System Techniques; CD-ROM/ Multimedia Applications; Electronic Research; HTML/Web Page Development
Areas that indicated "Minimal"- Portfolio Development and Interactive Video
Overall Analysis: Professional Development is a must in order for teachers to feel comfortable using all software and hardware. More staff development should be given in the “some” and “minimal” areas.

All of these survey’s results indicate a very high level of need for professional development in the area of instructional technology and its implementation as a tool for improving teaching and learning. There was an overwhelmingly positive response and a desire for professional development indicated in the survey responses.

Infrastructure, Hardware and Technical Support Component:

Our goal is to provide students with a different kind of education structured around the provision of challenging tasks that can prepare them for a technology-laden world. The most relevant uses of technology are as tools and communication channels. We need to give students experiences in selecting appropriate technology tools and in applying technologies such as word processors, spreadsheets, hypermedia, and network search tools.

This component involves assessing the current status of infrastructure, hardware and technical support in the district and planning for how these resources can be recycled, repurposed or supplemented to create the learning environment envisioned in the Curriculum Component.

The district has determined the technology hardware, electronic learning resources, networking and telecommunications infrastructure, physical plant modifications, and technical support needed by teachers, students, and administrators by the process of conducting and compiling data from Room & School Hardware Resource Surveys and a Server Assessment Survey between January 11, 2003 and March 24, 2003.

We identified 145 computers in Sanchez Elementary School. The computers were divided by platform.
G3- 57 , iMac- 46 , PPC- 25 , LC II- 15, Windows PC- 2 , iBook (laptop) 10 ,
G3-(laptop) 3, PB (laptop) 12
Other hardware: Projector- 9 , Laser- 15 , Deskjet- 11
See Appendix A for hardware inventory at Sanchez Elementary School

Most of the computers identified were located in centralized computer labs. There are some computers in each classroom (from the scene of room#303). The computer lab (room#145) was equipped with 29 computers and has printer connections.
About 75% of the hardware was located in the computer lab.

As Sanchez Elementary School TAAS data shows that the total enrollment is 588 students. When we compare this number to total computers (all computers in the school), we arrive to a ratio 4 to 1. This ratio is higher than the state ratio.

Analysis: Recommend more computers be placed directly in the classroom instead of the computers of the laboratories. Increasing the number of computers will allow more integration of the curriculum inside the classroom. In addition, we recommend adding more printers, scanners and video equipment into classrooms. Each classroom should have at least one printer.

SOFTWARE

After careful looking to the TAAS data, it seems that the inventory is lacking in educational software especially in the areas of reading, writing, and math in all grade levels. There is quite a bit of publishing software that could be used for writing practice but we only saw AR4 for reading and Math Munchers Deluxe for math. In our TAAS data, we need to focus on independent reading and test prep software, and math software should focus on real life applications in problem solving. We would like to include additional educational software in our technology plan.

Additional software recommended:
· Basic software such as word processing (e.g. Microsoft Word), spread sheet (Excel) and presentation (PowerPoint)
· Internet Explorer (in addition to existing NN)
· More edutainment programs such as “Jump Start” series and “Reader Rabbit” series.
· Typing practice programs
· Multimedia programs such as Real One Player